Page 36 of Lavender Lake
She blanched and her skin drained of color. “Salem?—”
“No, listen. I get it. Mount St. Salem, right? I blow up. I have big emotions. And they make people uncomfortable.”
“Your emotions don’t make people uncomfortable. How you choose to express yourself does.”
“You still should’ve told me,” I reiterated.
“When?”
“Any time between you finding out and Dad’s accident.”
Hadley stared at me, and then her expression softened. “Fair.”
“You kept it from me. Deliberately. Admit it.”
“I admit it. I’m sorry, Salem. Truly.”
And just like that, my anger washed away like a stick in a river.
I nodded in tacit forgiveness.
“She’s kind of great,” Hadley said. “Jane.”
“I don’t want to hear about her.”
“Okay.” She paused. “But she’s going to be around. She’s going to be here to help Dad recover when he gets out of the hospital. And she’s coming to the wedding. So you’d better get used to it.”
I appreciated that Hadley spoke with such assurance that Dad would get well and come home. I was the glass-half-empty type. Still, I wouldn’t say what I was thinking.
“Now onto other things. What’s going on with you and Bowman?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“Nothing,” I insisted.
“You two looked like you were in the middle of a fight when we came in.”
“Gideon . . . took him by surprise.”
“Yeah, that’s another thing,” Hadley said. “You’ve been home five seconds and he found out you were here.”
“He brought a pie from his mom,” I explained. “That’s it.”
“You remember back in high school when we didFootlooseand Gideon punched Adam and he went through the set piece?”
“Vaguely.”
“Gideon never got over you,” she said. “And now that Bowman is in the picture, I’m worried we’re going to have another incident.”
“Bowman isn’t in the picture, so there won’t be another incident,” I assured her. “Now, I can’t guarantee there won’t be anotherUnsinkable Molly Brownsituation . . .”
“I can’t believe they let you do the musical the next year after all the drama you caused.”
“Honey, do you really think the musical was the reason they sold out of tickets?” I grinned.
“I’m glad you’re home, Salem. This town can use some spice.”
